The investigation into Jameis Winston's role in a sexual battery allegation had been "inactive" in February because the complainant told police she didn't want to pursue charges, according to an email sent by a city official last week. But a Tallahassee police spokesman says the case was made active again earlier this month not because of media attention, but because of "a new piece of information."

Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times was the first reporter to contact the Tallahassee Police…
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The email, Favors Thompson said the Tallahassee Police Department followed up on the case referred to it by Florida State University police "against FSU football player Jameis Winston" by a woman who indicated she was intoxicated at a local bar and was taken advantage of while impaired. TPD initiated an investigation and began to interview witnesses and compile details on the case, but stopped getting responses from the woman and could no longer contact her.

"Shortly thereafter a representative of the young woman's family who is an attorney contacted TPD and said the young woman had changed her mind and did not wish to prosecute," the email said.

Sometime in February, the case was moved from the designation "open-active" to "open-inactive," which would explain the initial confusion about whether the case had been closed.

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The city not only alerted officials to what was sure to become a major news story, but also FSU's president and campus police.

"Someone integrally involved has (to have) given us a new piece of information," Northway told the Democrat this week. "It has to be someone involved in the case (who) provides a lead to reactivate it."

So: still very confusing, and not likely to be cleared up any time soon. Once the case was sent to the state attorney's office, it was determined that there was more investigation to be done, and its status was switched back to "open-active." That means the file and any updates on the case are entirely closed to the media.